What Do You Know About Poverty in Missouri?

3. Currently, the elderly poverty rate in the United States is higher than
the child poverty rate.

a. Incorrect

In 2011, the elderly poverty rate (including those people 65 years and over) in
the US was 8.7 percent while the child poverty rate (including children under 18 years
of age) was 21.9 percent. Though both of these groups have seen declines at times in the
number of people living in poverty, cost-of-living adjustments to Social
Security payments to the elderly population have protected many elderly people
from falling into the poverty range. On the other hand, through the 1980s and
1990s, many children lived in female-headed households where the poverty rate
tends to be much higher. In 2000, the poverty rate for married couples was 4.7 percent
while for female-headed households it was 24.7 percent. This percentage increases even
more for some minority groups. Programs such as the
Earned Income Tax Credit
and the
Child Care Credit
may be important in lowering these figures even further.